After Shawarma
by Wild-Bananas
Summary: Because Tony and Pepper both KNOW how close he came to not falling back through the portal, even if they won't acknowledge it.


**I thought about not uploading this because I don't really like it too much... I liked the idea more than the execution. I wrote it in a focused third person, but the focus jumps from Steve to Tony and back to Steve, so it all just seems weird. **

**Anyways, it's more of the muted-fluff kind of thing I like doing with Tony and Pepper.  
**

**So even though I don't like it too much, I thought some of you guys might enjoy it, so what the hell, right?**

* * *

After Shawarma, The Avengers had gone back to Stark Tower. It was Fury's order. Loki had been properly contained, the cube was being slowed to complete deactivation, and Thor had agreed to bring his brother home the following day while Fury rode out the rodeo. By S.H.I.E.L.D.'s orders, all of them were to stay in the city for the night, for the sake of debriefing, questioning, and cross-referencing stories. So Tony invited the group back to his place, insisting that only the living room had been destroyed, and smugly pointing out that there was still plenty of space in Tony's tower for everyone to settle down and spend the night.

Steve considered refusing Tony's offer. The whole 'common enemy' business had built a bridge between them, but they were far from friends. At the last minute, though, he decided, 'what the hell,' and agreed to go (not to mention, he would hate it if something last minute were to pop up and leave him the only Avenger unable to respond).

Tony idly bragged about the building, mostly to Bruce, the only even remotely interested person, as they made their way to the tower and up the private elevator. Steve was growing continually annoyed with Tony's self-praise as they rode up the elevator. _Stick around for the team_, he reminded himself. Regardless, he found himself wondering if there was anything Tony Stark loved more than his own reflection.

The elevator doors opened with a _ping_ and a strange voice saying, "Welcome back, Mr. Stark."

"Hello, Jarvis," Tony responded to the voice, though Steve (and some of the other Avengers, it seemed) had no clue where the voice came from.

"Sir, Colonel Rhodes is on the phone. He's calling to–"

"Mute," Tony said, and the voice suddenly cut off. The Avengers looked to Tony to see him staring at a red haired woman across the room. She stood silently, facing the broken window, clutching a blackberry in her hand.

Tony opened his mouth to say something, but Pepper beat him to it.

"You called, Mr. Stark?" The formality of the question caught Tony off guard before the question itself could. Eventually, though, the words registered.

"Ah, yes. Right. That," was his brilliant response.

She turned around to face him. Her expression looked carefully blank and studiedly professional. "Right about the time you were flying with that missile," she clarified. Her voice sounded almost bitter, and Tony wondered if there was an accusation here: 'you called me so I could listen to you die' sort of thing.

"Yes, well, I just thought I'd call you to tell you not to worry," he lied. But it wasn't one of his confident, deceiving lies. No, this was a different thing entirely. Pepper was used to this tone of voice. It was when he knew he was lying, and the person he was speaking to knew he was lying. It was like reading an official statement back to the person who wrote it to make sure all the bases were covered. It was when he didn't want to acknowledge the truth, didn't want to talk about it. For Tony Stark, it was the closest thing to a plea. _Please, let's not_. He blathered on, "You know, because it seemed like, to the untrained eye, that something bad was going on. I just wanted to make sure you knew everything was under control. Remind you to make dinner plans, too."

"Of course," Pepper agreed.

In the background, Tony vaguely heard Clint whisper, "who the hell is that?" Natasha started to whisper a response, but Tony cut her off.

"How rude of me," he said as he turned back to the team, now standing awkwardly, not sure what to make of the strange exchange (or what to make of Tony apparently _caring_ that he was being rude). "Avengers, this is Pepper. Pepper, Avengers."

"Yes, of course." Pepper smiled, and it seemed less forced than the composed face it replaced. "I've heard… oh, um, absolutely nothing." She caught herself there, and smiled professionally again.

"They'll be staying with us tonight," Tony threw out casually.

"Oh!" This caught her by surprise, though with a practiced way to it, she reigned in her expression. "I'll make sure the guest rooms are made up." With that, she turned her attention back down to her blackberry and immediately began texting.

Tony turned back to his teammates. "There's a bar, right there. Normally, I'd tell you to keep your hands the hell off it, but we'll call it a special occasion." He was joking, but it all seemed just a little too forced now.

Thor didn't seem to notice. "I shall have the strongest ale in your possession!"

"I know which one that is," Natasha supplied. Clint followed without question, but Steve shot her a questioning look. "What? I once worked for Stark when I was undercover," she explained

"And she's Russian," Tony added, "put those together and she is _very_ qualified in the field of booze."

Steve loosened up a bit at that and now looked to Bruce.

"I don't drink, much," he said. No one asked why.

"Well how about some campaign for the big guy then?" Tony chimed. "Celebratory, for the whole 'saved the world' thing."

Bruce smiled a little. "I could be tempted," he agreed, and he, too, made to join the Avengers at Tony's personal bar.

Pepper sighed down at her blackberry, then spoke to Tony without looking up at him. "The cleaning crew can't make it into the city for a least a few more hours, so I'm thinking we'll just have to steer clear of the living room until then. Rhodey is glad to hear you're okay and every news station wants an interview with 'Iron Man and the Mysterious Group of Heroes,' so I'm thinking a press conference is in order for tomorrow. I'll contact S.H.E.I.L.D. tonight to find out what is and isn't classified for that." She started walking towards the elevator at that point, and Tony stood up to intercept her. She was still looking down at her blackberry, and it was questionable whether or not she knew Tony had moved at all. "We can put the plans for the DC building on hold for a while, and I assume you want me to cancel all your meetings for a couple days, so I'll see what I can–oof." She'd walked right into Tony, who was now the last thing left between her and the open elevator doors. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Tony wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck and her hair. She responded in kind, hugging him fiercely and resting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm so glad you came back," she said, sounding on the verge of tears.

"Always, for you," he promised, and he sincerely hoped that it was a promise he'd be able to keep.

A few moments later and Pepper let go and straightened herself out.

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" she asked, falling back into formality. Tony knew not to be offended, he knew the formalities helped her cope as much as blatant, obvious lying helped him.

"That will be all, Miss Potts." He kissed her on the forehead and smiled at her as she stepped into the elevator. "Oh, don't forget! Dinner for two tonight," he reminded her as the doors began to close. She smiled and rolled her eyes, but he continued, "Find us somewhere nice, and preferably not destroyed."

With a _ping_ the doors shut and the elevator began it's descent. Tony went back to the bar with the other Avengers, who were all very vehemently pretending to have not been paying attention to the conversation that just happened.

Steve found himself thinking, as Tony sat himself back down, that maybe Tony did have something more important than his reflection.

(Meanwhile, Clint is still trying to work out who the hell that Pepper lady is. His assistant? His girlfriend? Seriously, none of that made any sense!)

* * *

**So yeah, I'll try not to focus-jump like that (hopefully) ever again. And sorry about that last line, it seemed funny enough to leave in ;)**


End file.
